the MOTU's Ultralite I/O Experience

[gsilbers]

im really thinking on getting this little beauty, but i just wanted to see if there wherent any issues, limitations etc.

hows the converters and preamps?

I/O options/routings?


If someone has it can you share comments, reviews etc

thanks!

[Farshad]

Hi

Great quality pres for the money plus enough analong ins/outs.

My $2/100

-Farshad

[GCL]

Check out a letter to the editor in the October issue Electronic Musician, where an asute reader points out how MOTU may be wording their gain tech specs in a way that may be misleading to customers by referring the to amount gain on the UltraLite's mic pres with the term "gain range," instead of just stating what the amount of gain really is. On the UltraLite website specs, MOTU states: Three-way pad switch (0, 18 & 36dB) plus 24dB of adjustable trim (in 1dB increments) - provides 60dB gain range.

Here's the text from the EM letter to the editor in the October issue:

So, is MOTU basically saying to add gain range to the list of marketing doublespeak phrases used to mislead the consumer? (See MOTU director of marketing Jim Cooper's reply to the letter "There's too much to gain" in the July 2006 issue of EM.) A quick search online shows the following products' gain. MOTU UltraLite has a "3-way pad switch (0, 18 & 36dB) and 24dB of adjustable trim (in 1dB increments) which provides 60dB gain range." In the real world, that translates to 24 dB of gain. Contrast that with the Mackie Satellite, which has 60dB of gain; the Lexicon Alpha and Mega, which have 50 dB of gain; or the Focusrite Saffire, which has 60 dB of gain. It's no wonder MOTU has resorted to using the term "gain range" instead of "gain." The company can't compete.

Here's the text from the original EM letter to the editor in the July issue:

There's Much to Gain

Orren Merton ran into the same problem that I did when he reviewed the MOTU Traveler (see the February 2006 issue of EM). MOTU lists the unit's microphone gain range as +73 dB at full gain with the -20 dB pad disabled, but the highest gain shown on the front panel of my unit is only +53 dB. Unless the meaning of the word pad has changed completely, engaging the pad reduces the available gain to +33 dB, rather than increasing it to +73 dB as described in the Traveler manual.

A gain range of +73 dB should support a ribbon mic, especially a modern design such as the Royer R-121 that Merton used. But as he discovered, +53 dB won't be quite enough. I, too, accepted the published gain figure at face value, even though the Traveler could not raise the signal from my vintage RCA BK-5B above the hiss. A dedicated submixer with higher gain solved the problem, but your readers should be aware that if they plan to use this otherwise excellent piece of gear with unpowered ribbon microphones, they might be disappointed.
Robert J. Spear
Ithaca, New York

MOTU director of marketing Jim Cooper replies: Robert, we haven't experienced any issues with gain and ribbon mics, so your categorical dismissal regarding the Traveler and ribbon mics strikes me as an overgeneralization. It is more likely that individual mileage may vary, depending on the specific ribbon-mic model used and the source material being recorded.

For the gain range, we are thinking of the difference between these two states: pad engaged with trim set to zero (-20 dB) and pad disengaged with trim set to +53 dB. The difference (range) between these two states is 73 dB. We have been careful to refer to this figure as “gain range” and not simply as “gain.” In fact, page 5 of the Traveler manual says: “The total gain range — from when the pad is enabled and the trim is turned all the way down to when the pad is disabled and the trim is turned all the way up — is 73 dB.”

[gsilbers]

Originally Posted by GCL

Check out a letter to the editor in the October issue Electronic Musician, where an asute reader points out how MOTU may be wording their gain tech specs in a way that may be misleading to customers by referring the to amount gain on the UltraLite's mic pres with the term "gain range," instead of just stating what the amount of gain really is. On the UltraLite website specs, MOTU states: Three-way pad switch (0, 18 & 36dB) plus 24dB of adjustable trim (in 1dB increments) - provides 60dB gain range.

Here's the text from the EM letter to the editor in the October issue:

So, is MOTU basically saying to add gain range to the list of marketing doublespeak phrases used to mislead the consumer? (See MOTU director of marketing Jim Cooper's reply to the letter "There's too much to gain" in the July 2006 issue of EM.) A quick search online shows the following products' gain. MOTU UltraLite has a "3-way pad switch (0, 18 & 36dB) and 24dB of adjustable trim (in 1dB increments) which provides 60dB gain range." In the real world, that translates to 24 dB of gain. Contrast that with the Mackie Satellite, which has 60dB of gain; the Lexicon Alpha and Mega, which have 50 dB of gain; or the Focusrite Saffire, which has 60 dB of gain. It's no wonder MOTU has resorted to using the term "gain range" instead of "gain." The company can't compete.

Here's the text from the original EM letter to the editor in the July issue:

There's Much to Gain

Orren Merton ran into the same problem that I did when he reviewed the MOTU Traveler (see the February 2006 issue of EM). MOTU lists the unit's microphone gain range as +73 dB at full gain with the -20 dB pad disabled, but the highest gain shown on the front panel of my unit is only +53 dB. Unless the meaning of the word pad has changed completely, engaging the pad reduces the available gain to +33 dB, rather than increasing it to +73 dB as described in the Traveler manual.

A gain range of +73 dB should support a ribbon mic, especially a modern design such as the Royer R-121 that Merton used. But as he discovered, +53 dB won't be quite enough. I, too, accepted the published gain figure at face value, even though the Traveler could not raise the signal from my vintage RCA BK-5B above the hiss. A dedicated submixer with higher gain solved the problem, but your readers should be aware that if they plan to use this otherwise excellent piece of gear with unpowered ribbon microphones, they might be disappointed.
Robert J. Spear
Ithaca, New York

MOTU director of marketing Jim Cooper replies: Robert, we haven't experienced any issues with gain and ribbon mics, so your categorical dismissal regarding the Traveler and ribbon mics strikes me as an overgeneralization. It is more likely that individual mileage may vary, depending on the specific ribbon-mic model used and the source material being recorded.

For the gain range, we are thinking of the difference between these two states: pad engaged with trim set to zero (-20 dB) and pad disengaged with trim set to +53 dB. The difference (range) between these two states is 73 dB. We have been careful to refer to this figure as “gain range” and not simply as “gain.” In fact, page 5 of the Traveler manual says: “The total gain range — from when the pad is enabled and the trim is turned all the way down to when the pad is disabled and the trim is turned all the way up — is 73 dB.”

nice. i remember i only reading the first letter. know i can see all the sides.

i think iam more concern with the noise ratio and firewire noise filtering in the unit.
as i have had problems before and its annoying,


im also going to get external pres and comp. so desent converstion and low noise is what im looking for.